Pope Benedict XVI's call for prayer for 'nascent' human life is undoubtedly a call for going to the dictionary to find out exactly what 'nascent' means. I certainly did, because while I knew he meant to call for prayers for the unborn, I wondered why he would use the word 'nascent.'
My copy of Webster's Deluxe Unabridged Dictionary (320,000 words!), second entry, defines it as beginning to form, start, grow or develop; said of ideas, cultures, etc. I'm sure the Holy Father is referring to the unborn as they begin to form and grow and develop in the womb, but it also seems to me that there is a related application of nascent that could apply to an endangered element of society that is all but eliminated in modern cultures through contraception as well as surgical or chemical abortion: the large family!
There is a need for great concern about the suppression of the large family, in my view, because it is the large family whose nascency is snuffed out by epidemic use of contraception, more and more of which is actually abortifacient in nature, causing spontaneous abortion after conception of a tiny new human baby.
It is through generosity to life that babies are born, and also through that same generosity that children can be trained in the virtues: faith, hope, love, prudence, temperance, justice, and fortitude.
As we approach Thanksgiving Day, may we be thankful for the traditional family, and may God re-open our eyes and hearts to welcome large families rather than suppress or extinguish them, as each and every human person is, after all, created in the very image of God, unlike any other of His creatures.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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